


Ink and Petals

by MerakiForest



Category: Midnight Poppy Land (Webcomic)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Flower Shop & Tattoo Parlor, F/M, Meet-Cute, Small Business, Tattoo Artist Tora, Tattoos, Tora does not have a green thumb, bujo, florist!Poppy, stationary and pens
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-08
Updated: 2020-07-08
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:28:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,190
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25154722
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MerakiForest/pseuds/MerakiForest
Summary: Tora starts noticing more and more things changing around him after someone opens up a floral and stationary shop across the street from his tattoo parlor...
Relationships: Tora/Poppy Wilkes
Comments: 39
Kudos: 180





	Ink and Petals

**Author's Note:**

> This AU was suggested by @youngmeesh on Tumblr and I was happy to oblige. ;) Please enjoy!

"What...is that?"

Baby blue eyes looked up from the computer and an elegant blond eyebrow rose up in question.

"What do you mean, dear?"

Tora shifted on his feet for a moment as he pointed a tattooed finger towards the small shop across the street with a pastel pink awning. "That."

"Honestly, love, how you manage not to get your clueless butt hit by a car or something everyday-"

"Quincey!" Tora snapped in irritation. "THAT."

Leaning forward and resting his chin on his palm, Quincey just sighed dramatically. "It's a floral and stationary shop. You know? Flowers and pretty paper and pens. Cute things."

"Cute things," Tora replied slowly as he squinted through the window. There was movement coming from the small shop and the light inside flickered on.

"Look, I know it's not all goth and drab like your usual aesthetic, but it's a fun little shop!"

Tora looked at his friend in offense. "Goth and drab? I...I like cute!"

Quincey gave him an unamused stare. "Your rippling muscles, all black attire, copious amounts of ink, and dark brooding expression would say otherwise. I've been telling you for years that adding a little more color to your life would do wonders!"

Huffing in annoyance Tora pointed to the flowers inked into his arm. "There's color _and_ flowers, ya punk. And I do like cute, whether ya think so or not."

"Your collection of dead animal bones are not cute," Quincey grimaced. "It's creepy."

"Anyway, it sounds like ya've been there before? How long has that shop been there?"

Blue eyes followed gold and watched as the young owner of the flower and stationary shop stepped out and set up her chalk sign with today's quote in elegant calligraphy. She was dressed in pale blue courderoy overalls, with the cuffs rolled up and exposing her pale ankles and her white track shoes. Quincey sneaked a glance at his taller friend and saw how those eyes followed her movements back into the shop.

"She's been open for about a month. That awning came in yesterday. Nice shop."

"Cute," Tora muttered and Quincey grinned widely.

"What're you guys lookin' at?" came the too-loud voice from the back before a young man that looked like the spitting image of Tora stepped in and hung his motorcycle jacket on the hook. 

"Tora is pining-"

"Shut ya trap!" Tora barked at the snickering Quincey before turning on the slightly smaller man who was just as covered in tattoos as Tora was. "And Goliath, ya were supposed to open up!"

"I'm here ain't I, big bro?" he replied with a cocky grin before digging in his pockets. "Need a hair tie?"

Grumbling about unreliable workers, Tora snatched the black hair tie out of his brother's hand and began working his long hair into the usual messy bun. It only took a few more minutes before their first customer was stepping in and he was in full on business mode. Gyu arrived shortly after to tend the front desk and soon Tora didn't have anymore time to spend thinking about the shop or the girl across the street.

* * *

"Thank you for your purchase!" Poppy called out as the little old lady exited the shop with a bag tucked under her arm and a vape pen in between her lips. 

She sighed happily and glanced over her small shop again. The wall of flowers opposite of the cash register was one of her favorite parts of the whole shop; each bundle of flowers carefully arranged in their buckets of vitamin enhanced water and offering a gradient rainbow of colors and the softest scents of delight. She would never get tired of looking at each day's selections, especially as she tried to keep things as seasonal as possible. Poppy knew that she wasn't well known enough to get any consistent business for funerals or special occasions, but she had been working really hard to put together small "just because" bouquets that seemed reasonably popular right now. 

The whole shop was something that Poppy was proud of, really. Every inch of it brought her such peace and joy that she couldn't believe how lucky she was to finally have gotten here. All those long hours of working multiple jobs even through college were worth it and even though it was a tiny place and in a not perfect location, she was eager to share her love of beautiful and lovely things. 

Thanks to Erdene's work on the business' social media accounts, they were even starting to pick up the pace on online sales. All Poppy had to do was continue doing things she loved - design bullet journal layouts and pages, use calligraphy on her friend's work or school notes (or even using her old school notes), and build beautiful little bouquets for everyday. Her heart was full with being able to do something that help others feel free to explore their creativity too.

The both of them were hoping to have a monthly event starting up in the next couple of months, something where people could gather to work on their bujo layouts together or just bring their coffees to chat and look around at cute things. She loved collaborating with others and finding out what they liked and were into. It helped her keep her products fresh and fun. In addition, her friend Jacob was going to be getting married in a few months and she was already booked to do the flower crowns for the bridal party as well as a large floral backdrop for photos at the reception. Those were definitely things Erdene was looking forward to showcasing on their Instagram page. 

Smiling softly as she straightened out a rack of stickers, Poppy allowed herself a moment to stare out the large windows to the shops across the street. Her lack of funds had severely limited the places that she could put a down payment on for leasing and when she first checked out this building Poppy had been disappointed. There was nothing remotely like her business on this strip, and there was even a tattoo parlor directly across the street. She had been certain that there would be no way that she could be successful in this location and she was concerned about the potential of being bullied by the owners or customers of such a scary looking tattoo parlor. 

Odd as it was, the moment that she saw one of the men step out of the tattoo shop, Poppy changed her mind. 

It wasn't his stunning good looks or his soft golden eyes that made her think twice - it was the beautiful tattoos that covered his bare arms. She had never really seen a lot of tattoos and the ones she had been exposed to were poorly done black designs or the kind of old school World War II era art that she wasn't particularly inspired by. What this particular man wore shamelessly exposed was nothing of the sort.

Poppy had stared in awe as the sunlight glinted off the vibrant colors, one arm decked in a multitude of flowers arranged so intricately that she couldn't even begin to imagine how long it would have taken to sit through for those. The cigarette lazily held up to his lips allowed his forearm to be completely highlighted for her view and she had stood stupidly there across the street, squinting against the sunlight to try to take in all the details that she could. The other arm flashed and she had been delighted to see the koi fish and the water stylized and permanently marked into his skin. 

True, she still didn't know a thing about tattoos or the different art styles that they could come in. She was pretty sure that her discomfort with needles would keep her from ever getting one herself, but on that day the sight of those burly arms had been something of a sign. 

This street wasn't just full of blacks, grays, and whites and if she could be confident in herself and what she had to offer, then there could be room for some pastels too. It had also been the driving force behind her getting the eye-catching awning. She wanted her little slice of heaven to catch the eyes of those in this part of town and she wanted to offer all a bit of sweetness. 

It had definitely been a success and Poppy grinned to herself as she watched another customer leave the tattoo parlor with a large bandage over his shoulder. One of the piercing artists came in not long after opening and had introduced himself as Quincey. With his height, platinum blond hair, and copious amount of tattoos she would have been a little nervous to interact with him before setting up shop. However, she had been thrilled to see him come in and he had been quite excited about her stock in journals and fountain pens. He had mentioned that he would be back and true to his word Quincey had already made several purchases through the month including a large potted plant the other day. 

Taking a deep breath, Poppy turned to get back to minding the store and prepping the last few items that needed to be shipped. Maybe today was the day that a certain tattoo artist would come in.

* * *

Tora was sure that the potted plant sitting innocently on his work station had not been there yesterday. 

"Goliath?"

"What, bruh?" 

The buzz of his tattoo gun was so familiar that Tora barely even recognized it going. 

"What's that on my workstation?"

Golden eyes looked up for a second, gloved fingers pulling the inking machine off the skin canvas while he looked so that he didn't make any errors. 

"It's a plant, ya dummy. Ain't ya ever seen one before?"

"I know it's a _plant_ , but what's it doin' at my station? It wasn't there before."

Goliath gave his older brother an incredulous look. 

"How should I know? Ask that mother hen Gyu. He's always doin' stuff for ya, so maybe it's some new encouraging thing or somethin'? 'Cause ya won't go to therapy." The buzz started up again and Goliath was back to working on the black-and-white tribute to an owl from Harry Potter. "Just go to therapy and he'll quit giving ya weird stuff."

"Shut ya trap," Tora grumbled as he stared at the flower intently. 

The leaves were...fuzzy. And it had tiny purple flowers clustered together tightly. The little pot that it sat in was white clay with a cute little cartoonish face painted on it. The face was smiling happily with a bold pink blush across its painted nose. Tapping his thick fingers against the workspace, Tora looked back to the front of the shop. There was a definite increase in greenery throughout the parlor and while he wasn't bothered by it per se, it was a definite reminder that he still hadn't gone across the street to say hello to their new business neighbor. Her presence was all around him and yet he hadn't even seen her properly; just a glimpse through a window and across the street. 

Quincey sat heavily onto the seat he reserved for clients and leaned back. "My client cancelled. Want me to increase your gauge sizes?"

Tora automatically ran his fingers over the stretched out ear lobes. "Nah, not right now."

"Fiiiiiiine. Where's your client?"

"I dunno. Cancelled, I think. You want some more ink?"

Tora glanced over at all the art exposed on the tanned skin. Quincey's purple tank top was a bit on the tight side as usual and it exposed the entirety of his arms and a good deal of shoulders and collarbone as well. While the spoiled rotten brat was generally a wuss when it came to pain, he had discovered a few years ago that he actually enjoyed a bit of a high after getting some work done and a one-off tattoo quote in script ended up turning into full sleeves, the start of chest armor, and some work up on his neck even. Each bit of the artwork was reference to different literary pieces that had made an impact on the young man and he incorporated quotes as well as illustrations of characters and scenes. It was a complicated bit of work and Tora was sure that he still had a few good years on it. Maybe more if Quincey decided to do the full back and down his legs. 

"Hey, why don't you go with me to that flower shop across the street, honey? You still haven't been there yet, have you?"

Golden eyes glanced back at the flower on his work station as he thought of his response. "Well, I don't know..."

"It'll be just for a few minutes! We won't miss any walk-ins."

It's not like it would take that long to go through the shop. It looked tiny even from the outside. 

"Whatever. Just a quick peek."

"Yay!" Quincey cheered as he jumped out of the seat. "Gyu, my darling, we'll be right back!"

Gyu waved them off as he continued talking on the phone about their safety procedures for piercings and Tora nervously tucked his hair behind his ears before shoving his hands into the pockets of his jeans. Quincey practically bounced across the street as he blabbed on about a certain type of notebook that she carried and how the paper in it was so perfectly smooth. Tora didn't know much about paper or pens as his collection of them was limited to free pens and notepads that he'd pick up at conferences and banks when he needed to do a money run. Not exactly something that would endear him to a girl who ran a stationary shop. 

His experience with plants was even more limited and Tora had managed to kill every thing he had attempted to grow, including a class project in middle school. 

"You're actually quite terrible at keeping things alive," his teacher had stated in shock at his dead bean sprouts. He hadn't really attempted since then.

There was a pleasant tinkling as the door to the shop opened, and Tora expertly ducked under the short door frame and bell. He was immediately hit was the strangest smell and it took him several seconds to realize that it was the smell of flowers. His nose wrinkled and he stared at the wall full of carefully trimmed flowers in their water buckets. It was like what he imagined having a garden smelled like, the scents grassy but different. Sharper and a bit heavier, but not choking like most perfumes. He had always thought that he'd hate the smell of flowers because most perfumes and colognes made him cough and wheeze, but this was...pleasant.

"Welcome to Poppy Land!" A short and plump girl rounded the corner of a display of books and beamed at the two of them. "Oh, hello Quincey!"

"Hello, darling!" he greeted excitedly before rushing her for a hug. She just laughed and accepted the affection even as her eyes wandered back to the other man. "I told you that I'd be back and I brought a friend!"

"The name's Tora," he grumbled in an annoyed voice.

It wasn't that he was annoyed so much as he was just, maybe a bit nervous. 

"Hello, Tora," she greeted back and offered an outstretched hand. "My name is Poppy. Poppylan, really, but that's weird so I just go by Poppy."

"Poppylan? That why ya shop is called Poppy Land?"

Her brown eyes were glittering in excitement.

"Yes! Good catch, Tora! Tora means tiger, right?"

Her knowing that made him feel a little funny in his chest. "Yeah, that's right."

"Well, I'm so glad to make your acquaintance, Tora! Please feel free to look around the shop and ask me any questions you'd like."

Although the shop was as tiny as he thought, it was still chock full of items that he wouldn't be able to tell the difference between. 

"Uh, I don't..."

Looking over the top of a wire rack filled with flimsy looking paper, Quincey cut him off.

"Poppy, my dear, he's a Neanderthal and wouldn't recognize good quality paper if it slapped him in the face."

She barely managed to smother a chuckle while Tora sent his friend a death glare. Really? Did Quincey just bring him here to humiliate him in front of a beautiful girl?

"Don't worry, Tora," Poppy replied kindly even though she was still smiling wide from the tease. "Stationary isn't everyone's cup of tea. What do you like?"

Tora stared around at the shop nervously again. He didn't even know enough to bluff his way through a conversation with her.

"I don't know," he finally replied weakly. 

She stepped closer to him and her smile was softer now. "You like to draw, right? I mean, I'm just assuming because you work at the tattoo shop."

He shrugged. "Yeah. I guess."

"He's the only one I allow to touch my beautiful skin," Quincey supplied before ducking back behind the rack.

"Oh, wow! That's some very impressive work, Tora! He was just showing me some of the finer lettering work the other day! You did that freehand, right?"

Now Tora was blushing from the praise and he felt like just running out of the shop. Why did she look so impressed with that?"

"It wasn't that big a deal," he muttered before pointing to the chalk board outside on the walkway. "Ya do the same thing."

"Lettering is actually pretty hard for me," she admitted shamelessly and with an even larger smile. "I'm always making mistakes which is why I like the chalkboard. I can just wipe away any errors! Doing it on someone's skin would be way too stressful for me!"

He shrugged again and stared down at his new shoes. Goliath had put a scuff on them and it was going to irritate him all day until he was able to get home and clean it off. One of the negative aspects of liking white shoes. 

"Ya just figure it out," he finally muttered, not knowing what else to say. 

He didn't exactly feel like going into why he started doing tattoos or why he was so well known for all the work he did on different gang members.

"Well, do you like flowers?" she asked kindly, obviously trying to help him feel more comfortable.

"I don't know nothin' about 'em," he muttered. "Always kill stuff so I don't mess with 'em anymore."

"Oh, that's no problem!" she chirped, happy as a bird. "I'm sure that's just because you weren't taught how to take care of them! Most people aren't, you know, and that's not really any fault of theirs. Come look!"

Her tiny hand took him by the elbow and guided him to the other end of the store where there were potted plants next to a few plants in glass cases and a few cutesy looking books.

"Why are they in glass?" he asked curiously.

"Oh, those are terrariums! Some plants prefer a higher humidity level and the glass helps to mimic a more warm and moist environment for them. You wouldn't water them the same as you would an open-aired plant like these here in the pots. And you'd care for all of these differently than you would the cuttings you see on the wall."

And with the excitement of talking to a friend with similar interests, Poppy launched off into an explanation about her flowers, why she chose them, and how their care varied. Tora was sure that he would flunk if she tested him on all the information that she was pouring out, but he found himself smiling helplessly and just listening to her talk. It was pleasant and made his chest feel a bit funny again. He watched how animated her hand movements were and just how _alive_ her eyes gleamed. It was nothing like what he saw in the reflection day after day.

"You know a lot," he finally laughed as she took a breath. 

A pleasant pink blush spread across her cheeks and she grinned even more widely at him before tucking a few strands of her loose hair back behind her ear. 

"Thank you, Tora. I've studied a lot and I just love sharing all the plant love that I can. Plants can help people feel so much better!"

 _"I don't think it's the plants making me feel better,"_ Tora thought.

"If you'd like to try, I think this little terrarium would be good for you," she offered, pointing to one that looked like a tiny greenhouse. "The sides open up like this," she explained as she pulled the latches up and swung them out, "and it's one of my favorite things. So cute! And if you get this one, I'll throw in a free plant care booklet. This one here has charts that you can fill in for all of your plants and it'll help you remember when you need to water them and how much. I can even show you a good app if you want reminders on your phone."

Already grabbing the terrarium, Tora shrugged. "Sure. Show me."

Poppy tilted her head back to properly look at him and Tora was rewarded with her most brilliant smile yet. "Yay! I love it when someone gives plants another shot! Oh, and don't worry if things don't work out well this time either, just check in with me if you have any questions and I can help you figure it out."

She was already filling in the appropriate information for his plants into the little care journal, and he couldn't help but notice that her even her handwriting was cutesy. There were little hearts she seemed to draw subconsciously as she wrote in the reminders and the appropriate watering instructions. Her pen even had shimmery ink and Tora was surprised to find himself smiling over such a silly thing. It was clear that Poppy enjoyed cute things and was unashamed of her love for it. He liked that.

With the information for the next month filled out, Poppy rang up the price for the terrarium and happily counted his change out to him before adding colored tissue paper to a thin bag and adding the booklet. Tora held the terrarium awkwardly as Quincey made his purchase of yet another notebook and a sheet of stickers and then the two were set to go.

"Thank you for bringing this little gem of a shop so close to ours!" Quincey sighed happily. "It's been so nice to have such high quality goods so easily accessible."

"Oh, you're so welcome, Quincey! This experience with the store has been one of the most exciting things of my life and I can't wait to see how things grow and improve."

"Well, I hope you won't outgrow us," the platinum blond shot back playfully with a wink. 

"I doubt that," she chuckled in response. "Oh! Before I forget!" Poppy squatted down next to a box and fished around in it for a few seconds before straightening up and presenting the two men with invitations. "These are for the bujo sit-in that we are hosting at the end of the month. Free snacks and stickers!"

"What's bu-jo?" Tora asked as he looked down at the illustrated invitation. 

"Oops, sorry! It's short for bullet journaling! There are so many ways that you can use it and I think that it would even be useful for artists like you two!"

"Brilliant!" Quincey agreed excitedly. "I'll definitely be there!"

Tilting her head, Poppy's brown eyes stared at Tora expectantly and he felt his cheeks heat again. 

"Uh, sure. I'll probably come."

"You're welcome to stop before then, Tora," she replied softly. "I can show you some journals and some of the different ways that people use them. You know, so that you're familiar with it for the sit-in."

Taking a deep breath of the sweet floral air, Tora found himself nodding helplessly. He was definitely going to be back here, whether it was because he killed another plant or for learning more about _paper_...he was going to be back.

"And I'll do the work for ya," he offered as casually as he could. "For a tat, if you want."

"That's very sweet," Poppy replied with a slight blush. "I'll be sure to schedule with you if I decide to get one."

While an hour ago Poppylan would have sworn that she'd never consider sitting through the pain of such a thing, those soft golden eyes and lady-killing dimples were making her reconsider. Erdene was going to have a good laugh when she heard about this.

"And uh, how about I give ya my number? So you can text me that plant reminding app thing?"

Poppy could see Quincey waggling his eyebrows dramatically behind Tora and she tried not to blush too brightly as she took the information down in her phone.

"Thanks, Tora. I'll...see you around?"

"Sure," he replied with another warm grin. 


End file.
